#chapterthirtytwo

Papi : I hope everything's going fine with you. You looked as beautiful as you always do.

I left it on read. My stomach was doing cartwheels and my heart was more broken than it ever has been. I felt disgusting. I've taken five showers between now and the time I've gotten home. I could still smell his strong cologne, no matter where I go.

I was almost raped, and as scary as that was for me, for some reason I was done crying over it. Now, I was just nauseous. I figured it was my nervous system reacting to the issue.

I felt stupid. I don't know why I didn't let Aubrey take me, knowing no matter what, he'd always protect me. If I would've left with him yesterday, none of this would've happened.

Christian : How was work yesterday?

I left him on delivered. I didn't want to respond. I just wanted to be alone.

I began to think about my mom, thinking about random conversations. Thinking about her smile when I would make her laugh. Or the face expression she made when she saw my breast enhancement for the first time, which made me die of laughter. Or how when I was younger, she'd hate when I'd wake her out of her sleep, and it would be hilarious watching her stir in her sleep while trying to awake her.

I felt gross that she met Aubrey. She met him while he was sleeping with Honey. I know he wanted to be there for me and what not, but how dare he meet my dying mother while he wasn't even loyal to me?

My phone rang. It was Christian. I sighed, and answered.

“Hello?”

“Did you get my text?”

“Oh, uh, yea, but I'm thinking about a lot and I didn't really get around to answering. So, what's up?”

“Just want to know how work was.”

“Work was great.”

“Great?”

“Yea,” I lied, “Everything went perfectly fine. Except Drake showed up. Do you know anything about that?”

“Yea. I told him about the weird shit going around in there.”

“Why? That wasn't fair of you.”

“What wasn't fair?”

“You calling him. That wasn't your business for you to do so.”

“You need to relax. I just wanted to tell Drake to come help you because you didn't want to help yourself, nor did you want anyone else's help.”

“Why does everybody treat me like I need help?”

“You've gone far enough. Since your mom passed, I've noticed you been pretty adamant about showing how independent you can be, when this isn't about that. We care about you. Drake loves you. Why can't you see that?”

“Christian, I don't have time for this.”

“Why, because I'm right?”

I sighed, “Thank you, Christian, but I want to be alone right now, okay?”

“Okay.. Fine.”

“Thank you, again. I'll text you later.”

He sighed, “Alright.”

I hung up, and back down in my bed. Today just wasn't a day that I was feeling.

Snuggling back under my covers, I closed my eyes, and drifted.

“Can you pass me her clothes?” Aubrey walked in, carrying a little girl in his hands. She had to be about four or five years old.

She had a hooded, white towel, covering her head, as her head rested on Aubrey’s shoulder. Her little arms that wrapped around his neck were a golden tan like he was, and so were her legs.

I got up, grabbing the clothes, and bringing them to him.

The little girl was now laying down on our bed, on top of the towel, as Aubrey dried her off. She had curly hair, her curls not as tight as Aubrey’s but close. She had dark brown hair like Aubrey, as it touched her shoulders slightly.

I handed Aubrey the clothes, and he smirked at me, as he lotioned her.

“I love you,” I smiled at him.

He stood up straight to peck my lips, before he slouched back down to finish what he was doing.

She puckered her lips at Aubrey, but Aubrey wasn't paying her attention as he lotioned her.

“Daddy,” she frowned.

He looked up at her, “Yes?”

She puckered at him again.

He chuckled before kissing her cheek. He looked to me, “She's so jealous of you whenever you have my attention.”

I nodded, “Daddy's little girl, huh?”

“Who? You or her?”

I giggled, “No nasty jokes around her, I told you that.”

“But she doesn't understand them,” he turned to her, “Stand up,” he held her hands to help her keep balance.

“But what if she repeats them not knowing what they mean?”

“I doubt she'll even remember them to do that. She's only four,” he grabbed her panties and held them below her, as she held onto him by his shoulders, putting her legs in both holes.

“She's not stupid, Aubrey.”

Aubrey turned to grab the little cute denim dress I picked out for her when she started to jump on the bed.

“No jumping, Nicole,” he turned back around.

Nicole. She was named after my best friend.

She frowned, "Mommy lets me jump.”

He turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

I innocently shrugged my shoulders.

“Selena,” he dressed her.

“Look. You let her stay up late. You let her slide with sleeping in our room when she has to learn to sleep in her own room. You give her ice cream whenever she wants. So what if I let her jump on the bed?”

He sighed, “But we've discussed the whole bed jumping. We don't need to spoil our bed.”

I sighed, “Okay, ‘daddy’,” I rolled my eyes.

He smirked, “It's about time you called me by my proper name.”

“No, mommy,” Nicole looked at me, “Daddy's my daddy. Not your daddy. He's your luvsband.”

Aubrey and I laughed.

“No, mi amor, he's my husband. Not my luvsband,” I giggled.

She wrinkled her eyebrows, “Husband?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

Aubrey lifted her, bringing her back down to make her sit. He put jelly sandals on her feet.

“You're turn,” he smiled before sitting down and changing the tv channel.

Nicole carefully slid off the bed before running to get her hair brush and bringing it back to me, “Here, mommy,” she crawled back onto the bed and sat in front of me.

I proceeded to brush her hair into a high, curly ponytail.

“Mommy?”

“Yes?” I turned around to the front of her hair to make sure the front looked proper and to brush down her baby hair.

“Can you sing to me and Daddy?”

“I only sing to you and Daddy went it's time to go to sleep. We're going outside, baby.”

She had little gold earring studs. She frowned, “Please?”

I giggled, grabbing her little fingers, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away.”

She giggled and clapped her hands, “Did you like it, Daddy?”

“I like anything Mommy does,” he turned the TV off.

“Me, too,” she said enthusiastically before Aubrey picked her up.

I stirred in my sleep for a moment, feeling around on my bed for my phone. I knew I had been asleep. But I just wanted to know what time it was, hoping I had not been napping for long.

I fluttered my eyes open, realizing I only slept two hours.

My dream warmed my heart. Our daughter looked so beautiful. She honestly had looked like him. And he was my husband. Mine.

I caught myself wishing it was real. So, so bad.

I decided to at least let Aubrey knew I recognize his persistency, and I appreciate it.

Me: I still love you.

I sighed, and locked my phone. If only things were as good as I saw in that dream.

He answered immediately.

Papi : So come back with me.

Me: I'm going to need time, Aubrey.

Papi : How can I make this better? Please tell me.

Me: You honestly can't. I'll get around to it eventually. Just… don't ever do it again.

Papi : I won't. Ever. I promise.

I left him on delivered.

The feeling came again. I ran to the bathroom, kneeled on the floor in front of the toilet, and let it all out.

I walked into Toronto’s Dollhouse when a guard stopped me. I looked up at him.

“Go straight to Mr.Burton’s office.”

“Okay,” my fingers began to slightly tremble.

He stepped out of my way allowing me to go to Mitchell’s office.

I knocked.

“Come in!”

I slowly stepped inside and closed the door.

“Sit,” he commanded.

I walked over to the chair and sat down.

“Now, I was informed that you assaulted your client yesterday, and ran off.”

I wrinkled my eyebrows, “He assaulted me first.”

He shook his head no, “He can do whatever he wants to you. But you cannot do what you want to him. You see the difference? I lost money because of you.”

“He tried to rape me.”

“That doesn’t exist here, Luna. I’m sorry. They’re allowed to do as they please.”

“That’s unfair.”

“No, do you know what’s unfair? You signing contracts that you don't fucking read. That’s unfair. Me losing my money? That shit is unfair. Don’t complain to me about anything. This is your job. You do what these men say, and that is that. You do what I say. And you do what your clients say. Or else shit won’t be pretty for you. Now, go along your business.”

I wanted to just throw something that him. But I kept my composure, “Okay,” I got up, to leave.

Drake:

Carter came in with my other boys. The one’s who’ll break any nigga’s bone if they have to. And because he brought them along, I knew something wasn’t good.

I got up, letting him set his computer up at my desk, allowing him to sit in my chair. He opened his computer and typed in a whole bunch of shit that I wasn’t paying any mind to. I just wanted to know what was relevant.

“So I dug. Literally, I dug all night.”

“And?”

“You have a problem,” he opened a sound recording, “Now, Burton is good. Whatever people he has erasing his shit for him, they’re good. But not as good as me. They tried to erase it all. But there’s two things I found,” he pressed the play button.

“How’s the job going?” I heard Mitchell’s voice.

“It’s going okay, we’ve been driving for about an hour trying to find the perfect area.”

“You didn’t get rid of the body yet?”

My heart dropped.

“Obviously not. This isn’t just a 1,2,3 thing. If you don’t want to get caught, you do things properly.”

“I don’t have time for that.”

“Then stop killing off your girls.”

He sighed, “Whatever. Just do your job.”

“I will.”

That was the end. My fists were balled up.

“Here’s another one,” Carter opened another recording and clicked play.

“We need another girl to replace Sparx.” It was Mitchell’s voice again.

“This is why you need to control yourself.”

“No. These bitches need to learn to listen. I warn them.”

“Okay. Well, where are you going to find a good stripper who will also let you pimp her? Who does not look worn down?”

“I’ll find one. I’ve been looking at a stripper at Daddy’s Jewels. Her name is Honey. We’re good friends but I doubt she’ll let me pimp her. She doesn’t even know I pimp my dancers.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try.”

“Matter of fact, I won’t tell her about the pimping. She’ll see it in the contract if she’s down.”

“Smart idea. But I have to go take care of business.”

“Alright.”

The recording was done.

Carter looked at me, “Do I need to tell you anything else?”

My blood was boiling. I shook my head no. I knew what I needed to do. And my boys were always ready.

Selena:

I was done my performance, and everything felt fine again. Everything felt normal again. I was finally doing something I was okay with doing, and it reminded me of where I used to work. I would choose there over here any day.

After putting my money in my duffle bag, I went back out to the bar. And one man caught my attention.

It was Maximilian. And he had been eyeing me.

Luckily, he wasn’t on my schedule today. But I was scared for who was.

I sat down, and smiled at Vera, “Champagne?”

She smiled back to me, “Absolutely.”

Ivory sat next to me, she already had wine in her hand. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright. Things aren’t that bad.”

“Don’t worry. After a while, it’ll be like nothing.”

“I’m not even trying to be here for that long, honestly.”

She wrinkled her eyebrows, “What?”

“I’m leaving here sooner or later. This isn’t for me.”

“Luna, it’s pretty late for that. I’m telling you. Be smart.”

Vera handed me my champagne.

I smiled, “Thank you,” I grabbed it before getting up, “And Ivory, thanks. But… I’ll figure things out. Okay?”

She sighed, “Okay.”

I walked and sat down in front of a man with blond hair.

He smiled at me, “You look new. Are you?”

“I’m about two weeks in. Is this your first time here in a while?”

He pulled me closer to him, “Yes, but I’m happy now because I came at such a good time,” he smirked.

I raised an eyebrow, “Oh really? Why’s that?”

His finger wandered to my sensitive area.

“U-um, excuse me,” I tried to move his hand but he was pretty strong.

“What's wrong?” He rubbed gently.

“Stop it,” I roughly pushed his hands away.

“Excuse me?” he wrinkled his eyebrows.

“I can’t do this,” I got up and walked to Mitchell’s room. I contemplated just running out but guards would’ve caught me. I sighed and I knocked on his door.

“Come inside!”

I walked in.

He raised an eyebrow, “What is it now?”

“I’m done.”

“Done with?”

“Done with here.”

“What do you mean done with here?”

“I’m quitting, okay? I’m quitting.”

He chuckled, “You can’t quit.”

“Why can’t I?”

“Because,” he stood up, “You aren’t allowed to,” he pressed a button by his desk, locking all doors, and walked towards me.

“Why not?”

“You really don’t read your contracts do you?” He got closer.

I began to back up.

“I own you. Till I feel like letting you go. Do you know that?”

“That’s not fair. What type of job is this? I should be allowed to quit if I want to!” I continued to back up as I got loud with him. This probably wasn’t a smart idea, but my attitude was getting the best of me.

“Sorry, sweetheart, this isn’t a regular job,” he got closer till I hit the wall. “You don’t want to quit.”

“I do. I don’t like it here!” I yelled again.

His hand painfully connected with my right cheek, “You don’t have a fucking choice. Okay? And you don’t get loud with me either. Has some fucking respect.”

I glared at him. I could already feel my cheek turning a slight red. “Respect for what? A sorry ass pimp who runs a dirty ‘high class’ strip club? You’re disgusting.”

“You’re being really brave and I don’t think you want to do that.”

“I do,” I looked him in the eye.

Then, I started to feel pain. Everywhere. He was hitting me anywhere he could, but for some reason, besides the slap, he didn’t go for my face.

I was now on the ground, and I just felt pain all over my sides. Over, and over, and over.

He stopped, and stood there. He looked at me, “You don’t want to quit still. Do you?”

Silent tears were rolling down my face, but I wasn’t making a sound. I nodded.

“Get the fuck up.”

I hissed in pain as I tried.

He watched me struggle to get up. I did. He grabbed me by my hair, and dragged me to behind his desk, “Are you sure?”

I continued to nod, tears still falling. I didn’t care what he wanted to do with me. I was getting out of here.

He pulled something out of his drawer, then pressed it against my neck. It was cold. It was a knife, “Do you need to rethink things?”

All of a sudden two gunshots fired outside the room.

“What the fuck was that?” he said quietly. He didn’t move.

The club was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“I-I don’t know,” I swallowed hard, my fingers trembling. This club was definitely too much for me, “Just finish this. I’m tired of everything. You want to kill me? Do it. I don’t care, anymore.”

I was truly was tired of everything. I missed my mom. I was heartbroken that she wasn’t there. I was heartbroken over what Aubrey had done. I was stressed out by this job right here.

The door violently busted open. A big dark guy holding a gun had walked through, that looked extremely familiar, then another man after him. Then, was Aubrey. He was dressed in all black, like his boys were, gun elevated, pointed right at us.

He looked at my red body, that was probably starting to swell in certain places. He examined the tears on my face from where he was standing. He clenched his jaw. “You put your hands on her?”

Mitchell held my hair tighter, and pressed the knife on my neck a little harder. It wasn't cutting skin, but I could still feel the perforated blade.

“You're doing all this for this bitch?”

“Watch your fucking mouth, there's three guns pointed at you right now, and all you have is a lousy ass knife.”

“That's pressed into this little bitch’s neck. I guess she means a lot to you, huh?”

Aubrey clenched his jaw again.

“Which would be really funny because all of my clients in here seemed to have meant a lot to her. She gave them whatever they wanted. She's been a real good girl. I've been told she's a good rider.”

“He's lying!” I yelled.

“Shut the fuck up,” he grabbed my hair even tighter, making me hiss in pain.

“It's obvious you're lying. If she was so good, you wouldn't have her like this. Let her go, now.”

“I don't want to.”

“Then, we'll take care of it,” he cocked his gun, and so did the other two men.

“Fire, and she's done,” Mitchell growled.

“Just let her go. And none of this will be an issue,” Aubrey took a few steps closer, the gun still pointing in our direction. I'm positive, he had it pointed at him, though.

“If I let her go, you all have to leave. Immediately.”

“Okay,” Aubrey shrugged and put his gun down. He looked to his boys, and they put their guns down, too.

Mitchell put the knife down and let go of my hair. I immediately ran to Aubrey, who hugged me tightly.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I weeped into his ear.

“It's okay. Let's go,” he pulled away, grabbing my hand gently. He turned to leave with me. But stopped and looked at his boys, “I'll be taking her car. You have my keys. Finish him,” he dragged me out before closing the door.

Everybody was laid on the floor. Not dead, but hiding from bullets. I looked around and we made our way out.

“Aubrey,” my breathing was uneven, “What did you mean by finish hi-”

One gunshot fired, making me gasp and jump.

He held onto me, “It's okay. It's okay. Let's go. Get your things out of your locker.”

He followed me into the dressing room, as I grabbed all my things. I changed my clothes into my t-shirt and leggings.

He grabbed my car keys from my locker.

We made our way out, as everyone watched. He started my car, and I stood in the passenger’s seat, quiet. As we drove, I noticed we weren't go to either of our houses.

“Where are we going?” I spoke softly.

“To the emergency room.”

“For what?”

“To make sure he didn't beat you too badly.”

“What am I going to tell them? That I got beat by a pimp?”

“No. Say you got into a fight with a family member.”

I nodded, “Okay. But what if they think you did this to me?”

“Then you tell the truth and let them know I didn't. Okay?”

I nodded again.

We arrived at the emergency room, and it was surprisingly quick. I didn't wait longer than five minutes to get seen, and the examination went smoothly. They, of course, asked if I was covering up for domestic violence issue, but I had declined.

I walked out of the office, with no problems.

“So, how is everything?” He was in the waiting area.

He was with me before, but they had made him leave so they could ask the domestic violence questions.

“They said everything was fine. I'm going to have some bruising, but I'm fine. Nothing life threatening.”

He stood up, to hold me. He wrapped his arms around me, and kissed the top of my head.

I was so thankful for him. “Thank you, Aubrey.”

“Don't thank me. I couldn't let you stay there. I needed you with me. At all times.”

I tried to smile, “And I want to be with you, at all times.”

“Good. Because I want you to move in with me.”

I pulled away from the warm embrace, “Aubrey, I don't know about that.”

“Selena, did you see what just happened to you? I can't take those chances again. You need to be with me.”

I pouted, “But I just.. I can't shake that mental picture of you and her in there,” I referred to Honey.

“I know it's going to take some time for you to forgive me, but I don't care. You don't even have to talk to me while we're home, I just need to know you're okay 24/7.”

“Aubrey-”